There are several aspects of my new, experimental LCHF diet that I find difficult. The most difficult is getting enough to eat. You'd think it would be easy to eat all the bacon and steak one wanted. It ain't. For one thing, fresh meat and high quality bacon means constant grocery shopping. And we're a family of six eaters. Imagine the amount of bacon we have to buy to satisfy all of us. For six, we need at least a pound and a half at a serving, and that leads to a few of us pining for just one more piece. And to fights.
And because I truly believe in the importance of buying high quality meat -- as in grass-fed, free-range, home-schooled -- we spend a small fortune on meat. Again, six eaters means two chickens, or eight breasts, or several pounds of ground beef for every dinner. Of course, I give it my best newbie meat eater try with meatloaves and stew-type meals to help mitigate costs. I know tenderloin for six is stupid planning. I'm learning as fast as I can.
Another problem is I'm the only one in the family with a taste for the more "flavorful" end of the meat spectrum. I eat all the cheap (and delicious) offal, I eat all the bone marrow. I'm the only one excited to try the tripe soup. My husband does bravely give anything I make a try. But, God forbid my children taste something not sanitized out of all recognition of its origins. While our girls won't even look at raw meat, running away in horror, they have no problems eating bland white meat with a breaded exterior. Our boys play it more cool but still won't try much of anything that looks like the animal it is.
My husband and I created these children, but I'm not sure how we did because we have never been your typical American eaters, having been tofu-eating vegetarians most of our adult lives. Maybe it's a result of them growing up in America. All we can do is keep making healthy food and hoping their tastes mature sometime.
Back to the problem of not enough to eat. I do my best to make meals using fresh ingredients, but they run out quickly, as do leftovers, if we have them. So I'm left trying to put together a LC meal from pantry ingredients and whatever is left in the fridge. The kids and my husband still eat carbs so they can just make pasta or rice or pour a bowl of death carbs, I mean, cereal. I'm stuck making myself eggs, again. Or eating salami and cheese and olives, again. Sometimes I just give up and don't eat.
This problem of running out of food is due to my inexperience with dealing with fresh, whole meat products. I have to figure out the balance between maintaining stock and not wasting food by not eating it in time. Yes, I know, all you experienced cooks, especially all you working moms, that's what the freezer is for! I'm learning. Eventually I'll have it down. But for now, I miss the convenience and long-term storage of high carb foods!
My little LCHF eating buddy. He's got my back.
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